BATON ROUGE — Coming off a 6-0 performance last week and riding a 12-game overall win streak, the LSU softball team moved into a tie for third nationally with UCLA in the USA Softball/ESPN.com poll released Tuesday.
The third-place ranking is the highest for the Tigers in the ESPN poll since it was introduced on Feb. 25, 2003. LSU has been ranked in all 24 ESPN polls and been ranked in the top 10 for seven consecutive weeks.
In addition to being the highest ranking for the Tigers in the ESPN poll, the third-place position also ties LSU’s highest overall ranking. The Tigers were ranked No. 3 in the NFCA/USA Today poll earlier this season and have spent six different weeks at the No. 3 spot in the polls since 1997. The Tigers were also ranked No. 6 in last week’s NFCA/USA Today poll, which is released every Wednesday.
LSU tops the list of seven Southeastern Conference teams that are currently ranked in the top 25 by ESPN. The Tigers are followed by Georgia at No. 8, Tennessee at No. 11, Florida at No. 12, Alabama at No. 12, South Carolina at No. 24 and Auburn at No. 25.
In 17 games against nationally ranked teams this season, LSU boasts an 11-6 record, including a 7-4 record against teams ranked in the top 10. The Tigers own wins over current top 10 teams No. 2 Florida State, No. 5 California, No. 6 Washington and No. 8 Georgia.
LSU returns to action on the road this weekend at Ole Miss. The Tigers will face the Rebels in a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 5 p.m. The series will conclude with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. LSU currently leads the overall SEC standings by a half game over Georgia and the Tigers are three and a half games ahead of Alabama in the Western Division standings.
No. School Pts. Record Last Week
1. Arizona (20) 40-1 500 1.
2. Florida State 44-4 471 3.
T-3. LSU 39-7 446 4.
T-3. UCLA 27-5 446 2.
5. California 35-6 419 5.
6. Washington 28-7 409 8.
7. UL-Lafayette 35-4 374 7.
8. Georgia 39-9 355 6.
T-9. Michigan 33-6 333 10.
T-9. Stanford 30-10 333 9.
11. Tennessee 41-10 290 12.
12 Florida 38-9 273 13.
13. Alabama 32-11 251 11.
14. Oregon State 34-12 239 14.
15. Oregon 30-10 234 15.
16. Fresno State 36-13 188 16.
17. Nebraska 29-11 184 18.
18. Oklahoma 31-14-1 153 17.
19. South Florida 44-8 125 20.
20. Long Beach State 36-8 98 24.
21. Baylor 37-9 96 23.
22. Georgia Tech 34-11 71 22.
23. Pacific 26-12 69 19.
24. South Carolina 21-15 52 21.
25. Auburn 30-10 32 25.
Others receiving votes: Texas State (23), Arizona State (9), Notre Dame (8), Florida Atlantic (6), Illinois (5), Iowa (5), Louisville, (2), Texas A&M (2).